Hame-fastener.



No. 723,298. PATENTED MAR. 24, 1903.

J. H. PARMELEE.

HAME FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20, 1902.

N0 MODEL,

WITNESSES: j! p 7..ua -o wp PATENT JOHN H. PARMELEE, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO AARON WV. WALLACE, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

HAME-FASTENER. 1

. SPECIFIQATIONfOrming part of Letters Patent N 0. 723,298, dated March 24:, 1903. Application filed January 20.1902. Serial No- 90,51l. (No model.)

To on whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. PARMELEE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairlield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Hame-Fasteners; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in tlieart to which it appertains to make and use the same. v

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in hams-fasteners, and

has for its object to provide a device of this character in which the locking and unlocking of the parts are readily effected, while at the same time myimproved fastening will be flexible, so as to adapt itself to the contour of the hame-coll'ar.

With these ends in View my invention consists in certain details ofconstruction and combination of parts, such as will be hereinafter fully described and then specifically be designated by the claim.

In the accompanying drawings,which fornr apart of this application, Figure 1 is a broken perspective showing the parts of my improve ment detached from each other and connected with thehame-eyes; Fig. 2, asimilar view, but showing my improvement in locked condition; Fig. 3, a detail perspective of the harne-loop and locking-lever, showing the position which said lever assumes when the parts are unlocked; and Fig. 4, a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the position assumed by the locking-lever when the parts are locked.

Similar numbers ofreference denote like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Heretofore hame-fasteners have been provided in which one element consisted of a short section of chain connected with one of the hame-eyes, while the other element consisted of a locking-lever"connected with the other hams-eye either directly or through the medium of any suitable link or loop; but all of these'constructions required a special locking ring or loop, which engaged with the end of the locking-lever, so as to hold the latter in position when the hames Were fastened.

ing-lever so constructed and pivoted that no auxiliary device is required for holding the hames fastened, while at the same time the greater the strain put upon the hames the less is the-tendency of the lever to drop to its unlocked position.

1 2 are the usual hame-eyes; 3, a short section of chain having at one end a hook element 4, which latter is attached to the hameeye 2, and 5 is what I term a hame-loop, which is provided with books 6 at oneend, which are connected with the eye 1, while the other end of said loop is curved and slightly bent downward.

7 is the locking-lever, one end of which is formed into an eye 8, which embraces the free end of the loop 5, so as to afford a pivotal support for said lever. Adjoining this eye the lever is deflected laterally, as shown at 9, and then bent so as to form a bight 10, the remaining portion or free end of the lever being straightand substantially parallel with the plane of the eye 8. It willthus be readily understood that the eye 8 and bight 10 extend in the same direction substantially as the lever 7, so that when thelever is brought into locking position, as shown at Fig; 2, said eye and bight will extend in a horizontal plane.

In utilizing my improvement the lever 7 is passed through one of the links of the chain 3 and then forced outwardly toward the under side of the loop 5, and when the lbight 10 has been thus broughtinto nearly horizontal alinement with the eye 8 the chain-link will have been brought into the extreme end of the bight 10, and a strain will therefore be exerted which will cause the lever to automatically assume its locked position. In fact, this strain on the lever will keep the latter firmlyin locked position, so that if the lever should be withdrawn a short distance and released it will immediately return to locked position with a resilient action. lhe deflection 9 causes the eye 8 to be separated from the body of the lever by a space sulficient' to admit the chain-link to the bight 10; but this deflection also enables the lever in locked position to conform more closely to the shape of the hams-collar. In unfastening the hames the lever is pulled downwardly until the link of the chain passes beyond the I of the deflected portion, said eye loosely embight, when the parts will readily separate and assume the position shown at Fig. 1. v 7 Having thus described my invention, what 5 I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- In a harne-fastener, the combination of the loop connected to one of the hame-eyes, the locking lever having one extremity bent 1o backward and deflected to one side to form a bight and terminating in an eye at the end bracing the inner bar of said loop, and a suitable chain secured to the other hame-eye,

substantially as set forth. 15 In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN H. PARMELEE.

Witnesses:

F.'W. SMITH, J12, M. T. LONGDEN. 

